System and method for optimized filtered data feeds to capture data and send to multiple destinations

ABSTRACT

There is provided a system and method for optimized filtered data feeds to capture data and send to multiple destinations. There is provided a system comprising a memory and a processor. The memory has a database associating data feed patterns to one or more of a plurality of destinations. The processor captures data from a data feed having a data feed destination, stores the data in the memory, compares the data feed with the data feed patterns in the database to determine matched patterns, retrieves one or more destinations associated with the matched patterns, and sends the data to the data feed destination and the retrieved destinations. There is also provided a system comprising data feed sources, destinations, a network connected to the data feed sources and the destinations, and a server configured to intercept and route network traffic on the network, the server including a memory and a processor.

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/229,482, filed Aug. 22, 2008.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to computer systems. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to systems for processing ofcomputer data.

2. Background Art

When transferring data over networks, data generally travels point topoint, from a single source to a single destination, unless speciallyconfigured otherwise. However, there are often situations where multipleinterested data consumers need to receive the same data for otherpurposes. For example, if the server of a game company is collectingdata about users from online game servers, multiple internal departmentsat the game company may need access to such data. Website administratorsmay need that data to update high scores and leader boards. Themarketing department may need that data to pinpoint areas of growth. Theprogramming and engineering department may need that data for debuggingpurposes.

If multiple data destinations are required, some amount of manualconfiguration is often necessary for proper data routing. Typically thisentails a custom coded application at the source and destination ends,specialized proxies that are configured to correctly route the datafeeds to the intended multiple destinations, or a periodic scan for datain a centralized data store such as a database. However, there are anumber of problems with each approach. The custom coded applicationapproach requires reprogramming and redeployment when a change inrouting requirements occurs, requiring staff resources and possiblyleading to downtime, which may be unacceptable for certain situations.Similarly, specialized proxies must be correctly configured andreconfigured when data routing requirements change. A periodic scanapproach is problematic in that it is periodic, leading to outdateddata. For example, situations where data must be received in nearreal-time, such as streaming live video content, for example, will notbe amenable to a periodic scan approach.

Accordingly, there is a need to overcome the drawbacks and deficienciesin the art by providing a system to flexibly route data to multipledestinations, without requiring disruptive downtime or burdensomemaintenance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system and method for optimizing and filtering data feeds to capturedata and send to multiple destinations, substantially as shown in and/ordescribed in connection with at least one of the figures, as set forthmore completely in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features and advantages of the present invention will become morereadily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewingthe following detailed description and accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 presents a device for optimizing and filtering data feeds tocapture data and send to multiple destinations, according to oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 presents a system for optimizing and filtering data feeds tocapture data and send to multiple destinations, according to oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 presents a system for optimizing and filtering data feeds tocapture data and send to multiple destinations, according to anotherembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart describing the steps, according to oneembodiment of the present invention, by which a device can optimize andfilter data feeds to capture data and send to multiple destinations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present application is directed to a system and method for optimizedfiltered data feeds to capture data and send to multiple destinations.The following description contains specific information pertaining tothe implementation of the present invention. One skilled in the art willrecognize that the present invention may be implemented in a mannerdifferent from that specifically discussed in the present application.Moreover, some of the specific details of the invention are notdiscussed in order not to obscure the invention. The specific detailsnot described in the present application are within the knowledge of aperson of ordinary skill in the art. The drawings in the presentapplication and their accompanying detailed description are directed tomerely exemplary embodiments of the invention. To maintain brevity,other embodiments of the invention, which use the principles of thepresent invention, are not specifically described in the presentapplication and are not specifically illustrated by the presentdrawings.

FIG. 1 presents a device for optimizing and filtering data feeds tocapture data and send to multiple destinations, according to oneembodiment of the present invention. Server environment 100 of FIG. 1includes server 120, which includes pattern database 150 and routingservice 121. Pattern database 150 includes a one-to-many relationalassociation 165, which relates patterns 160 a, 160 b, and 160 c to oneor more destinations 130 a, 130 b, and 130 c. Pattern database 150 alsoincludes a one-to-one relational association, relating destinations 130a, 130 b, and 130 c to representations 161 a, 161 b, and 161 c,respectively. Pattern database 150 is accessible to routing service 121executing on server 120. Pattern database 150 is stored on a memory ofserver 120, and routing service 121 executes on a processor of server120.

Pattern database 150 is used to filter incoming and outgoing data feedsagainst a particular desired trait encapsulated by patterns 160 a, 160b, and 160 c in FIG. 1. These patterns can flexibly represent anycriteria for matching and categorizing data. For example, patterns 160a, 160 b, and 160 c could represent that the originating host of anincoming data feed matches a particular domain. Alternatively, thepatterns could represent that the destination matches a particulardomain. Other metadata included in the data feeds might be matchedagainst, such as an included identifier. This identifier might be aUniform Resource Identifier (URI), a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), oran Extensible Markup Language (XML) Path Language (XPath) expression.Besides matching the entire identifier, only a portion of the identifiermight be matched against as well. Additionally, the data itself withinthe data feed might be matched against a particular string of text, somebinary data, a regular expression, or some other defined schema.Although the previous examples match patterns 160 a, 160 b, and 160 c tothe same pattern type, pattern database 150 could also mix patterns ofdifferent types as well. For example, pattern 160 a could match on theoriginating host, pattern 160 b could match on the destination, andpattern 160 c could match on a portion of a URL.

Using an online game company running on a local domain “intranet.net” asan example, pattern 160 a might represent the condition “URLhttp://userdb.intranet.net/userstatistics/XMLstatistics-schema/user-data.jsp”,pattern 160 b might represent“URL=http://gamedb.intranet.net/onlineRPG/XMLRPGscoring-schema/ranking-data.jsp”,and pattern 160 c might then represent“URL=http://gamedb.intranet.net/onlineFPS/XMLFPSscoring-schema/ranking-data.jsp.”The URL might be embedded within a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)POST request, which sends data to the indicated URL. Thus, in thisembodiment, the destination represented by a URL in a HTTP POST requestis used as the filtering criteria for patterns 160 a-160 c. Morespecifically, pattern 160 a represents the situation where userstatistic data is sent to the “userdb” host, pattern 160 b representsthe situation where player ranking data is sent to the “gamedb” hostregarding an online role playing game (RPG), and pattern 160 crepresents the situation where player ranking data is also sent to the“gamedb” host but in regards to an online first person shooter (FPS)game.

Routing service 121, which is executing on a processor of server 120,accesses this list of patterns contained in pattern database 150, andmight hash and cache it within local memory to optimize the speed ofpattern recognition for incoming and outgoing data feeds. Once routingservice 121 confirms a data feed matches a particular pattern withinpattern database 150, the proper destinations can be retrieved throughrelational association 165. Continuing with the online game companyexample, destination 130 a might target a URL for an internal webdevelopment team in charge of updating a list of publicly accessibleleader boards, destination 130 b might target a URL for an internalresearch and development (R&D) department, and destination 130 c mighttarget a URL for an internal marketing department. Since pattern 160 a,user statistic data, might be of interest to both the R&D and marketingdepartments, relational association 165 might specify that pattern 160 ashould be forwarded to destinations 130 b and 130 c. Patterns 160 b and160 c, regarding player ranking data, may be of interest to the leaderboard web team and the R&D department in gauging player progress anddetecting irregularities such as hacked accounts returning improbableplayer rankings. Thus, relational association 165 might specify thatpatterns 160 b and 160 c should be forwarded to destinations 130 a and130 b.

Continuing with the online game company example, if an incoming datafeed indicates“http://userdb.intranetnet/userstatistics/XMLstatistics-schema/user-data.jsp”as the destination URL, routing service 121 would detect that the URL ofthe data feed matches pattern 160 a. Thus, besides being sent to theoriginal URL as specified, routing service 121 will also send todestinations 130 b and 130 c. A data feed indicating“http://gamedb.intranet.net/onlineRPG/XMLRPGscoring-schemairanking-datajsp”as the destination URL will match pattern 160 b, leading routing service121 to additionally send to destinations 130 a and 130 b.“http://gamedb.intranet.net/onlineFPS/XMLFPSscoring-schema/ranking-data.jsp,”will match pattern 160 c, leading routing service 121 to additionallysend to destinations 130 a and 130 b. In this manner, multiple or aplurality of destinations can automatically receive data feeds ofinterest, merely by integrating server 120 within an appropriatelyconfigured network. Additionally, the routing can be flexibly alteredeven during operation through some simple modifications to relationalassociation 165 in pattern database 150.

Besides simply sending the data as is, routing service 121 of server 120might additionally apply various data transformations to convert datafrom one representation to another. Thus, pattern database 150 may haveinformation regarding these desired representation transformations,which are shown by the one-to-one relations linking destinations 130 a,130 b, and 130 c to representations 161 a, 161 b, and 161 c,respectively. For these representational transformations to work,routing service 121 will also require information regarding an originaldefined representation that particular data adheres to. In the onlinegame company example above, these representations may be indicated aspart of the destination URL. For example, pattern 160 a indicating theURL“http://userdb.intranet.net/userstatistics/XMLstatistics-schema/user-data.jsp”may imply that the associated data will be in the “XMLstatistics-schema”representation, or an XML file using a particular schema tailored forstatistical data. Alternatively, the particular defined representationmight be explicitly included as metadata within the data feed. Oncerouting server 121 determines the defined representation of a particularset of data and a particular destination that it should be sent to, itmay lookup a desired representational transformation for that particulardestination within pattern database 150, converting the data to arepresentation that may be more optimally parsed by the destination.

For example, representation 161 a might specify JavaScript ObjectNotation (JSON), so that the incoming player ranking data can be moreeasily integrated with web servers that manipulate data using JSON atdestination 130 a. Representation 161 b might specify a Structured QueryLanguage (SQL) statement, so that the database servers in the R&Ddepartment at destination 130 b can easily insert the incoming data intoa database. Representation 161 c might specify a more simplerepresentation, such as comma separated values (CSV) or schema formattedbinary data, facilitating on-screen display of tabular data or appendingof data to a rolling log file. Thus, if these representationalconversion rules were stored in pattern database 150, then prior tosending data to an intended destination, routing service 121 wouldconvert data for destination 130 a from an XML representation“XMLstatistics-schema” to JSON, convert data for destination 130 b froman XML representation “XMLRPGscoring-schema” to a SQL statement, andconvert data for destination 130 c from an XML representation“XMLFPSscoring-schema” to CSV or schema formatted binary data. In thismanner, the converted data arrives at the destination in an optimalrepresentation that is more appropriate for the particular tasks to bedone at the destination end. Neither the source nor the destinationneeds to be manually configured to implement these conversions, asserver 120 handles the conversions transparently with the informationfrom pattern database 150.

FIG. 2 presents a system for optimizing and filtering data feeds tocapture data and send to multiple destinations, according to oneembodiment of the present invention. Network environment 200 of FIG. 2includes feed source 210, content producer 212, server 220, anddestinations 230 a, 230 b, and 230 c. Feed source 210 includesidentifier 211. Server 220 corresponds to server 120 from FIG. 1. Server220 also includes routing service 221, corresponding to routing service121 from FIG. 1. Link 216 provides a data path between feed source 210and server 220. Link 213 provides a data path between content producer212 and server 220. Links 225, 226, and 227 provide a data path betweenserver 220 and destinations 230 a, 230 b, and 230 c, respectively. Alocal area intranet or a wide area network such as the Internet mightprovide the network connectivity for the above links.

Feed source 210 in FIG. 2 might represent, for example, a Really SimpleSyndication (RSS) feed providing technology news to the public. When newarticles arrive at feed source 210, various internal departments at theassociated content provider site might be interested in receiving thefeed data. For example, destination 230 a might represent a real-timemonitoring system that displays news articles as they are submitted.Destination 230 b might represent a data warehouse that archives allnews stories, indexing them for easy search engine retrieval.Destination 230 c might represent the accounting department, which keepstrack of article word counts and authorship to calculate contributingwriter salaries.

Continuing with the technology news site example, writers Bill and Stevefrom content producer 212 might submit a new article approved forpublication covering the release of the new Orange Computer Mikan DeluxeNotebook. Content producer 212 then sends out the newly approved articleto feed source 210, to be disseminated to the wider public by websiteand RSS feed, Server 220 may be placed as an intermediary in thenetwork, with routing service 221 receiving the article data from link213 and forwarding the data to its original data feed destination vialink 216. Routing service 221 might also forward the article data toadditional destinations 230 a, 230 b, and 230 c. Thus, the data feed issent to multiple destinations, including feed source 210 anddestinations 230 a, 230 b, 230 c. Using a procedure similar to thatdescribed with FIG. 1, routing service 221 may access a pattern databasethat directs it to detect outgoing article data destined for feed source210 identified by identifier 211, which might comprise the URL of astaff only article submission webpage. The pattern database is notspecifically shown in FIG. 2 for the sake of clarity. Once such matchingdata is found, routing service 221 might consult a relational databasedirecting that the data should be sent to multiple destinations 230 a,230 b, and 230 c via links 225, 226, and 227, respectively. Thus, theusual RSS subscribers to the feed receive the Mikan news update asscheduled, the real-time monitoring station displays the new story, thedata warehouse indexes and archives the story, and the accountingdepartment duly credits Bill and Steve for their work.

FIG. 3 presents a system for optimizing and filtering data feeds tocapture data and send to multiple destinations, according to anotherembodiment of the present invention. Network environment 300 of FIG. 3includes feed sources 310 a, 310 b, and 310 c, server 320, anddestinations 330 a, 330 b, 330 c, 330 d, and 330 e. Feed sources 310 a,310 b, and 310 c correspond to feed source 210 from FIG. 2. Feed sources310 a, 310 b, and 310 c also include identifiers 311 a, 311 b, and 311c, respectively, corresponding to identifier 211 from FIG. 2. Server 320corresponds to server 220 from FIG. 2. Server 320 also includes routingservice 321, converter 322, converter 323, and converter 324. Links 315,316, and 317 provide data paths between server 320 and feed sources 310a, 310 b, and 310 c, respectively. Converters 322, 323, and 324 applydata representation conversion to the data paths provided by links 325,326, and 327, respectively. Links 325, 326, 327, 328, and 329 providedata paths from server 320 to destinations 330 a, 330 b, 330 c, 330 d,and 330 e, respectively. A local area intranet or a wide area networksuch as the Internet might provide the network connectivity for theabove links.

Returning to the online game company example used with FIG. 1, feedsource 310 a might comprise a server responsible for the operation of anonline RPG game, “Lucifer 3 Online,” feed source 310 b might comprise aserver responsible for the operation of an online FPS game, “Warfield2099,” and feed source 310 c might comprise a server responsible for theoperation of an online zombie simulator, “Second Undead.” Destinations330 a, 330 b, and 330 c might correspond to the leader board web team,the R&D department, and the marketing department, respectively.Destination 330 d might represent the “userdb” host, while destination330 e represents the “gamedb” host.

If routing service 321 consults a pattern database with a similarmatching rule set as the example used with FIG. 1, then routing service321 of server 320 might additionally send data destined for destination330 d (userdb) to destinations 330 b (R&D) and 330 c (marketing),whereas data destined for destination 330 e (gamedb) might beadditionally sent to destinations 330 a (web) and 330 b (R&D). As withFIG. 2, the pattern database is omitted from FIG. 3 to aid in clarity.The pattern database may also have matching patterns based on the sourceof the data feed, using identifiers 311 a, 311 b, and 311 c to associatedata stream sources with feed sources 310 a, 310 b, and 310 c,respectively. For example, the online zombie simulator Second Undeadmight be in a restricted beta trial phase, so it might be desirable toignore data collected from feed source 310 c until Second Undead goeslive to the public. In this beta trial case, there might be a negativerule in the pattern database, directing that data sourced fromidentifier 311 c should not be sent to multiple destinations, even ifthe data might match some other matching pattern that would normallydirect routing service 321 to send to multiple destinations.

Additionally, routing service 321 might convert the representations ofthe data into more optimal representations for the receivingdestinations. By accessing rules from the pattern database, routingservice 321 might determine that converter 322 should convert incomingXML data into HyperText Markup Language (HTML) for easy integration intoa web server, that converter 323 should convert incoming XML data intoSQL statements for easy insertion into a database, and that converter324 should convert incoming XML version 1.1 data into XML version 1.0data, since the workstations installed at the marketing department donot yet support XML version 1.1. Thus, prior to sending data throughlinks 325, 326, and 327, converters 322, 323, and 324, respectively, canconvert the defined representations of incoming data into the desiredrepresentations for each destination.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart describing the steps, according to oneembodiment of the present invention, by which a device can optimize andfilter data feeds to capture data and send to multiple destinations.Certain details and features have been left out of flowchart 400 thatare apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art. For example, astep may comprise one or more substeps or may involve specializedequipment or materials, as known in the art. While steps 410 through 470indicated in flowchart 400 are sufficient to describe one embodiment ofthe present invention, other embodiments of the invention may utilizesteps different from those shown in flow chart 400.

Referring to step 410 of flowchart 400 in FIG. 4 and network environment200 of FIG. 2, step 410 of flowchart 400 comprises the processor ofserver 220 running routing service 221 to capture data in a XMLrepresentation from a data feed provided by content producer 212, havinga data feed destination, feed source 210. Routing service 221 mightdetect on an incoming or outgoing data feed, depending on the particularconfiguration requirements. For illustrative purposes, the technologynews site example used in conjunction with FIG. 2 above will also beused in the explanation of flowchart 400.

Referring to step 420 of flowchart 400 in FIG. 4 and network environment200 of FIG. 2, step 420 of flowchart 400 comprises the processor ofserver 220 storing the data captured from step 410 into a memory. Thismemory might be a dynamic random access (DRAM) chip, a hard disk drive(HDD), or some other storage medium accessible to the processor forfuture retrieval. Alternatively, if a particular data feed is markedcacheable and is found to already exist in the memory of server 220, thecached copy might be used instead for improved performance, negating theneed for step 420.

Referring to step 430 of flowchart 400 in FIG. 4 and network environment200 of FIG. 2, step 430 of flowchart 400 comprises the processor ofserver 220 comparing the data feed stored from step 420 to data patternsin a pattern database stored in the memory to determine a matchedpattern, the matched pattern specifying that the data feed destinationof the data feed is set to the destination identified by identifier 211.Although this particular example only matches to a single pattern, adata feed could match to multiple patterns, particularly if the datapatterns cover several characteristics of the data feed. Since thismight result in a large number of data patterns to match, there might bea hashing procedure or some other efficient search algorithm applied tothis matching step to the optimize detection speed for large amounts oftransactions. For example, an identifier contained within the data feedmight be hashed into a digest value and compared against a hash tablepopulated with hashed identifier indexes for fast retrieval, theidentifier indexes corresponding to the identifiers for detection. Ifadditional properties such as source origin or binary data are also tobe pattern matched, hash values and hash tables might be prepared forthose properties as well.

Referring to step 440 of flowchart 400 in FIG. 4 and network environment200 of FIG. 2, step 440 of flowchart 400 comprises the processor ofserver 220 retrieving destinations 230 a, 230 b, and 230 c by using thematched patterns retrieved from step 430 to query the pattern databasefor destinations. Since in the example used with FIG. 2, all threedestinations are interested in receiving data feeds regarding newlyapproved technical news articles, the pattern database will indicatethis condition after step 440 finishes.

Referring to step 450 of flowchart 400 in FIG. 4 and network environment200 of FIG. 2, step 450 of flowchart 400 comprises the processor ofserver 220 converting the data feed from a defined representation to adesired representation retrieved from the pattern database. Although norepresentation conversion is depicted in FIG. 2, converters in anarrangement similar to converters 322, 323, and 324 in FIG. 3 might beadded to provide representation conversion functionality, as describedwith FIG. 3 above. Alternatively, step 450 may be omitted if notransformation of data representation is necessary, in which case server220 passes the data as is without modification, which may preserve thecomputing resources of server 220 for other tasks. This might befeasible if a standardized representation, such as a particular versionof XML, is adopted as a precondition for all data feed transactions.

Referring to step 460 of flowchart 400 in FIG. 4 and network environment200 of FIG. 2, step 460 of flowchart 400 comprises the processor ofserver 220 negotiating encrypted secure channels over links 225, 226,227, and 216. If, for example, link 213 is connected over a secureprivate intranet, but links 225, 226, 227, and 216 have to be directedover the insecure Internet, it may be desirable to apply data encryptionand security at a centralized point such as server 220. Thus, server 220might negotiate secure links using protocols such as Transport LayerSecurity (TLS), Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), and Secure Shell (SSH).Since being the first to break a news article is often of paramountimportance in news reporting, it may be desirable to prevent maliciouscompetitors or curious gossips from surreptitious eavesdropping ofexclusive news, such as the story by Bill and Steve regarding the brandnew Mikan notebook computer. Such sensitive data feeds may render step460 as worthwhile insurance versus the increased complexity and cost ofthe security enabled system and network. Less sensitive data feeds mightskip step 460 to save processing resources for other tasks.

Referring to step 470 of flowchart 400 in FIG. 4 and network environment200 of FIG. 2, step 470 of flowchart 400 comprises the processor ofserver 220 sending the encrypted data from step 460 over newly securedlinks 225, 226, 227, and 216. If step 460 was skipped, then step 470sends the unencrypted data from the previous step over standard insecurelinks 225, 226, 227, and 216. In either situation, data is sent tomultiple destinations, or a destination set comprising the data feeddestination, feed source 210, and the additional destinations from thematched patterns in the database, destinations 230 a, 230 b, and 230 c.Although FIG. 2 depicts links 225, 226, and 227 directly connected withthe desired destinations, a more complex network might include multiplerouting servers, each handling different aspects of data feeds ordistributing the filtering workload to multiple servers to preventperformance and network bottlenecks. Thus, the steps shown in flowchart400 might be repeated numerous times before a data feed finally reachesits intended destinations.

As part of the advantages of various embodiments of the presentinvention, interested data consumers can retrieve fresh data inreal-time or near real-time, rather than relying on periodic polling orsome other non real-time mechanism, which leads to stale and quicklyoutdated data. Changes to the system are easily introduced, even duringoperation, through simple modifications to the utilized database, thanksto the generalized nature of the routing device. Data can also beflexibly converted from one representation to another, betteraccommodating specific data implementations at particular locations.Adding encryption and security capabilities can optionally provide acentralized location for protecting sensitive data feeds. By adhering toexisting standards and protocols, the device can easily integrate intoexisting networks and infrastructures, minimizing the amount of timerequired for custom programming and administration versus proprietaryand manually configured solutions.

From the above description of the invention it is manifest that varioustechniques can be used for implementing the concepts of the presentinvention without departing from its scope. Moreover, while theinvention has been described with specific reference to certainembodiments, a person of ordinary skills in the art would recognize thatchanges can be made in form and detail without departing from the spiritand the scope of the invention. As such, the described embodiments areto be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. Itshould also be understood that the invention is not limited to theparticular embodiments described herein, but is capable of manyrearrangements, modifications, and substitutions without departing fromthe scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A server for distributing data in a networkhaving a plurality of network destinations, the server comprising: amemory having a database including data feed patterns, wherein each ofthe data feed patterns in the database is associated with one or more ofa plurality of destinations; a processor configured to: capture datafrom a data feed having a data feed destination specified by a source;store the data in the memory; compare the data feed with the data feedpatterns in the database to determine one or more matched patternsbetween the data feed and the data feed patterns; retrieve one or moredestinations associated with the one or more matched patterns; send thedata from the server to a first network destination of the plurality ofnetwork destinations corresponding to the data feed destinationspecified by the source; and send the data to second one or more networkdestinations of the plurality of network destinations corresponding tothe one or more destinations associated with the one or more matchedpatterns.
 2. The server of claim 1, wherein each of the of destinationsin the database is associated with a desired representation, and whereinthe desired representation is one of Extensible Markup Language (XML),JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), comma separated values (CSV),Structured Query Language (SQL), or binary data in a defined schema. 3.The server of claim 2, wherein the desired representation is a differentversion or revision of the defined representation.
 4. The server ofclaim 1, wherein the network is one of a local area local network or awide area network.
 5. The server of claim 1, wherein the data feedpatterns comprise an identifier, and wherein the identifier is a portionof a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), a portion of a Uniform ResourceLocator (URL), or an XML Path Language (XPath) expression.
 6. A methodfor use by a server for distributing data in a network having aplurality of network destinations, the method comprising: capturingdata, by the server, from a data feed having a data feed destinationspecified by a source; storing, by the server, the data in a memory ofthe server; comparing, by the server, the data feed with data feedpatterns in a database to determine one or more matched patterns betweenthe data feed and the data feed patterns; retrieving one or moredestinations associated with the one or more matched patterns in thedatabase; sending the data from the server to a first networkdestination of the plurality of network destinations corresponding tothe data feed destination specified by the source; and sending the datato second one or more network destinations of the plurality of networkdestinations corresponding to the one or more destinations associatedwith the one or more matched patterns.
 7. The method of claim 6, whereineach of the of destinations in the database is associated with a desiredrepresentation, and wherein the desired representation is one ofExtensible Markup Language (XML), JavaScript Object Notation (JSON),comma separated values (CSV), Structured Query Language (SQL), or binarydata in a defined schema.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the desiredrepresentation is a different version or revision of the definedrepresentation.
 9. The method of claim 6, wherein the network is one ofa local area local network or a wide area network.
 10. The method ofclaim 6, wherein the data feed patterns comprise an identifier, andwherein the identifier is a portion of a Uniform Resource Identifier(URI), a portion of a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), or an XML PathLanguage (XPath) expression.